Super Fast

http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/builds

As this seems to be a common complaint, I don't see why Defraggler doesn't set restore & hiber to exclude by default. Was thinking that this would reduce reports like this. But glad you got it fixed!

http://www.businessw...comes-to-the-pc With the rollout of the Windows 8 operating system expected later this year, millions of desktop and laptop PCs will get kill switches for the first time. Microsoft declined to answer questions about the kill switch in Windows 8 other than to say it will only be able to remove or change applications downloaded through the new app store. Any software loaded from a flash drive, DVD, or directly from the Web will remain outside Microsoft’s control. * Why is my 1st thought, "I hope hackers don't gain access to the kill switch!" LOL!

I noted where they said they already have 1 suspect in custody already, & that though they are looking for him in connection it, he hasn't been charged with it yet. Hoping after they get a few more suspects, they can determine who really is the murderer.

Very interesting that WMM can do this. I would have firstly perhaps tried Photo Story, just from having tried it years ago. But glad to see that you only need WMM. Have to remember that!

Just curious. If you set compatibility to XP or Vista mode, does it still do this? While I don't exactly think it will fix your issue, no hurt in trying! And if you feel like posting your SSD boot times, great! Would be very awesome of you.

I never use smart phones. Takes so much time to set up all your contacts/games/apps, & learn how to backup/reinstall everything. I just rather have a simple phone. My phone is a cheapo $10 one, & it does the only job I want it to do. Be a phone.

So now you have it! When I get to be a billionaire, I'm going to make a house that's just about impervious to almost everything. _____ 1) Ice -> Spring loaded sharpened metal points on the roof, so when large hailstones push them down, they pop back up (& break the ice). 2) Wind -> Rounded house for better aerodynamics & reduced drag in hurricanes, or high winds. 3) Fire -> Fireproof construction so house can't burn down. 4) Earthquakes -> Preloaded helium capsules, tethered (with emergency food & water rations!) & ready to escape if the house starts to err..., fall in!!! 5) Floods -> Pre-tethered house, with sealed foam rings on the outer bottom edges so it floats if the water rises too high. 6) Power -> LED lights + Solar panel system to power everything. 7) Famine -> Hidden compartments of food + water. _____ Hmmmm... Did I cover everything?

Does it work if you revert to an older CCleaner version from Filehippo (just for testing)? Or if you use portable CCleaner?

There are other notepads which may be simpler than notepad++, but I do like the tabs in notepad. Definitely makes multi-tasking simpler.

Interesting that while 8 brings improvement across the board to browser performance, Internet Exlorer gets the biggest speed boost (from 10.3 in 7, to 19.1 in 8). I also find it interesting that even with this speed boost, IE performance in 8 still trails FF performance in 7 (slightly). Nice read!

@Andavari, I have an ATI card, so I don't think that is the problem. Also, intel integrated graphics on one system. I would have to say that it may have to do with the recent DRM intro'd to the newer flash versions. (As well as the ballooning flash size to a whopping 15 MB download)

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/141174-linux-mint-14-released-its-like-windows-8-minus-the-bad-bits Like the screenshots!

I clicked your videos, & both played. Then, I clicked play on youtube (because you stated that is where your problem is) and it showed the black box where the video should be but nothing happened. However, I also have 71 tabs open, as well as some I have at the beginning tab that need to be recovered that I have not opened yet. So, I opened Task Manager & killed off flash. Then, refreshed the tab containing the youtube video, & it played with no trouble at all. For some reason, flash seems to crash a lot when it gets over 1 something GB on my machine. I haven't yet determined the cause of this, but it seems a general rule (on my machine).

I happened to think of that, after I posted. How much of Windows 8 speed on boot/shutdown is due to Windows 8, & how much is due to having SSD installed? I noted that in Walmart the other day, they had some new ultrabooks with 20 GB SSD + 500 GB HDD. (OS on SSD). I am sure that having Windows 8 on SSD does wonders for startup & shutdown, seeing that it is 5 or 10 times faster than HDD, depending on the SSD. My netbook has a 5,400 RPM HDD. Just updating to 7,200 RPM gives you around 2x faster read & writes. SSD? Probably much greater! Would 7 beat 8, installed on SSD drive? Who knows! It would be interesting to find out. Maybe I'll find time to experiment one day,

Watching streaming TV isn't so bad I suppose. I like the tv hardware better, because if your mobile or without access to the web, you can still watch tv. What's your startup/shutdown of Windows 8 times? My netbook has Windows 7 & shuts down in about 11 seconds/boots in about 35.

I agree that Google is fast getting better at design. But I also tend to think that Apples mindset of building a walled garden where you buy, buy, buy but you never own what you buy... (iPod? MP3? Apps?). Is at least a contributing factor in their decline in this sector of the market. I tend to believe that people get tired of perpetually buying things, if they can never own them. Just my $0.02 worth!

This is interesting, & I may take time to test on my machine to see what is happening. I have a few questions I would like to ask you before we begin. I mostly have used single pass wipe, so I don't have extensive familiarity with the others as of yet. _____ How are you able to tell Drive Wiper is doing 1 pass (as opposed to 7)? 1) Does it take 7x less to do the pass? Or have you timed it? 2) Did prior versions state each time they completed a pass? What I am trying to get at, is how do you know they did not make it complete all 7 passes before saying complete? _____ Your question is interesting enough that I may test a small 2 GB flash disk (or partition) for the purpose of timing 1 vs 35 passes to see whether it is "skipping" passes, or waiting till it does them all before throwing up the complete message.

I'm not sure, unless it's related to the complexity of the problems they are blocking.

I am fully aware of that. And of cars with kill switches. The idea that MS stores a unique ID on their servers is irrelevant. _____ You still need to activate. If you activate with a blacklisted key, your pc goes down with the error message "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting." I'm not saying MS doesn't store the machine ID, I'm saying that if you use a blacklisted key, your machine will be killed. Which is all a malware would need to use. MS generates a hardware hash (so they say, but I've no proof of this, as I cannot see their server stored data), but they also check your license key. _____ I bought an XP machine that I activated online with MS, & it was fully licensed & genuine. When Windows XP crashed later & I had to re-activate my XP, I mistyped one of the characters. I believe I put a 2 where the t was supposed to be, or something. I forget. Anyway, when I hit activate, it said the product key was not valid. _____ So, if MS doesn't check the key after you set it up the first time, how did what I told you above happen? Once I re-typed it & inspected it to be sure it was right the next time, it went through. If you think MS doesn't check the key, you obviously haven't done this much. My experience was, even though I had already activated my XP machine without a problem earlier, MS declined a second activation till I got my key right. You can't just use a hardware hash to reactivate, even if they have it stored on their server. You have to also have the key right. Or, at least I did with my machine.

I am well aware of that. Your quite missing what I am saying here. I am NOT saying (or even implying) that users may not be able to re-activate in ordinary situations. I'm saying, if they come out with a malware that runs embedded MS key changer in the background to swap MS legit key for a non legit, THEN they disable: Windows Activation Technologies Service, it may make it impossible for the average user who does not understand what is going on to re-activate. My understanding is, if your in a non-licensed state & that service is turned off, you will NOT be able to activate. _____ And of course, isn't activation limited to a certain number of times you can re-activate? Or have they changed that? What happens if someone gets reactivated more than 4 times (due to the malware) & they are denied? I am sure they can call MS, & 30 min later, everything may be fine, but this could be a lot of trouble (both for MS tech support & the people going through it) if they had an outbreak of such a thing. For advanced users like u or I, this may not be much of a problem. But for the casual users, it sure could be a headache! 1) Casual users may not know to backup their activation/etc., & may get locked out by malware such as this causing them to go over their activation limit. 2) Or, someone may take down MS activation servers, leaving users with no way to activate (And possibly even delete user databases, or abuse them). 3) Or, MS may pull activation for Windows 7 for example, to force everyone to update to 8, 9, 10, etc. I would say that 3 is the most likely, & that is the reason I do not support product activation. I have never thought it is or can be a good thing when you buy something to own, but someone else still own (and controls) what you do with it. Not only does this defeat the purpose of buying, but they are breaking the truth in labeling act by selling it to you as a purchase instead of a rental. The trouble with MS being in control of your "purchase", which is really a rental since they still own & control what you do with what you bought, is if they ever decide to yank support for activating Windows XP/Vista/7, YOU will have no choice or say so in the matter. YOU will be FORCED to update to the newest OS, else no computer use for you!!! Let's hope they don't do that, but this is my main concern/fear that they would do so to users in the future. * If this does happen, it would be the equivalent of Car makers selling you a car with a built in kill switch. Once your car is deemed "Obsolete" because it does not have this or that "safety" feature, or is X number of years old, they could switch your car off & force you to upgrade from your perfectly fine working car to the newest. Because they have your best interest at heart, & they want you to be safe. Really, what's $22,000 to pay, in exchange for safety?

While it's easy to say that Apple doesn't understand the web, that pretty much applies to everyone. There are so many tiers and levels to understanding the web, that there is not one person capable of knowing all there is to know about the web (including how data is received/transmitted/wi-fi protocols/limitations that apply to ipv4 vs ipv6, etc). Sure, Apple makes mistakes. So does every other person. What I would gripe about, is how Apple mistreats others (like Samsung) for no apparent reason other than $$$. I had no idea that you could patent rounded corners. I also had no idea that making $$$ is more important than anything else, even treating people right. I have to wonder if the next idea that will be patented, is how to breathe?

That may be, but I do love hearing the opinions of other people, because you always learn from people. _____ I have heard that some promote the idea of 8 being more secure because of a built in antivirus. I am not sure this is so, because if it is not "on" by default before doing a Windows Update, people may not use it. Additionally, even though Windows supposedly takes a back seat & lets you use your own A/V, what happens if you install one that Windows doesn't detect as an A/V, then it deletes parts of your A/V? Or if a user simply only wants ONE A/V installed, but they have to have MS version installed also? I contend that while MS security essentials is ok, there are many better programs. So, forcing users to use a half baked a/v is bad because it is hit & miss + bloatware. It may even cause malware writers to target MS security essentials, over-writing MS security essential critical files with their own custom variants, that turn MS Security Essentials into THE malware, & make it give erroneous messages/delete user files/other, while being almost impossible to kill off or delete. For this reason, I hold that it is/may be safer for users to install their own a/v. _____ Have also heard others applaud secure boot for W8, but my disinterest in that stems from the following that will probably happen. 1) Make it harder for to use custom boot scenarios (Bootable CD/DVD for troubleshooting), or Linux/Ubuntu/ReactOS freeware (anti-competitive, as well). 2) Malware writers will write advanced malware that is able to "secure boot" that now has total control of Windows, & makes getting rid of it even more of a pain. I remember when MS was thinking that because 64 bit systems require signed drivers, it will help block malware. And some rootkits can't run in 64 bits, because it is more secure. That turned out very laughable, because I have seen 64 bit 7 severely compromised, with the same sorts of rootkits/toolbars/malware/popups/hosts file redirects as their 32 bit cousins. The only thing that ended up happening, is it made 64 bit much harder to work on for the average person, because they may not be able to just use a driver backup program (doesn't save the driver signature while backing them up) to restore missing drivers if they do a clean install. But most people will have to download the drivers from the manufacturer website. Additionally, it may make clearing the hosts file & doing certain other tasks a bit more difficult because of restrictions in place. _____ Not saying isn't admirable to try to make Windows more secure, but from what I've seen so far, malware writers are abusing MS "security" functions for laughs. Anyone who has worked on a number of PC's knows about this, as I have myself encounters the following types of problems with malware/rootkits. 1) Windows running abysmally slow (for no apparent reason). 2) User(s) locked out from using tasks manager/regedit/other. 3) User(s) blocked from using normal programs (ccleaner/norton/avg/mcafee/panda/defraggler/etc) because malware claimed those are "infections". 4) Malware that sets itself as "default a/v" & promptly reminds you that you already have an a/v installed if you try to use a legit program to remove it. 5) Redirectors that cause computers to permanently loop & go to any webpage but the one your trying to get to, regardless of browser used (hosts file hijacks). Many, many others that would take too long to list here. I am sure that MS really meant good by allowing admin to be able to block users from using task manager/regedit/other functions of Windows. But I am also just as sure that malware is making a mockery of that. Users are being locked out of using their own PC every day, by malware writers that know Windows more than they do. Ransomware even holds them hostage & demands $200 settlement, (hey, we got your laptop webcam on too, so we are recording you). Etc. Scareware. It's nuts man, it really is!

Not yet.

I like the way you think about that, Hazel!!! I tried for a day or two, to think how installing the free media player key that MS gives you would be circumventing activation, but then I only came up with this. 1) Microsoft gave everyone the media player & key for free. People aren't trying to circumvent. MS did it for them. 2) Circumventing activation implies you did something illegal. Since MS gives away the media player & key for free, you're not doing anything illegal. 3) You can't tell people not to install MS Media Player, since MS is promoting it & giving it away for free. 4) This leaves Microsoft in a real pickle, since they are the ones promoting it & giving it away. So, the end result is, MS is giving it away for free & users are doing nothing illegal by using what MS gives them for free. I am sure, by Windows 9, MS will learn better. However, it is also possible that MS also saw that Windows 8 would be such a drastic change, that it may flop. Hence, the "fully activated" state of Windows, (once you add media player) could be a marketing angle they thought of in order to improve adoption of 8. I would not put it past them to "accidentally leak" a fully licensed key like that, to try to dominate the market & shove Linux the rest of the way out of it. Then, tighten down controls to draconian levels & force everyone to do exactly like you demand.